Tailor-made: bespoke shirts

Steering you towards the sharp end: GQ's sartorial man about
town sizes up London's finest shirtmakers.

It's a testament to Kanye West's style credentials that he sought
out Kent, Haste & Lachter on a recent trip to London. Based
just off Savile Row on New Burlington Street since
2010, John Kent, Terry Haste and Stephen Lachter are on the radar
of those who know about tailoring and shirtmaking - certainly,
they're too busy when GQ visits them to be described as
best-kept secrets: "We're an overnight success after 40 years,"
says Lachter. The trio started out at Hawes & Curtis, before
going separate ways: Haste joined Tommy Nutter, founded Hackett bespoke and became Huntsman MD;
Lachter was a director at Tie Rack before rejoining Kent, at
one point sharing premises with Norton & Sons, whose shirts
Lachter still makes.

Along the way, they've made for everyone from Frank Sinatra ("on another level") to Johnny
Borrell ("bit scruffy"), via Cary Grant, Sean Connery and the Duke of Edinburgh, whose
royal warrant is on the window. Frankly, you'd pay just to hear the
stories. But while Lachter is too discreet to talk about his
current clientele - "It's not the done thing" - they range from
sons of customers from their Hawes & Curtis days who are "a lot
trendier than their dads", to Cartier UK MD Arnaud Bamberger,
GQ's Best-Dressed Businessman and someone who you'd
imagine probably knows a thing or two about quality. "I've got
customers who've had the same orders for 40 years," says Lachter.
"Then we make for youngsters who want big collars and skimpy
shirts. But we started like that in the Sixties and Seventies:
everything was very slim." Get properly fitted

When Lachter puts a tape measure around my neck and asks if I go
to the gym, it's more than (highly effective) flattery. "A lot of
young men do weights to fill out up top, and automatically the nape
of their neck becomes wider," he says. So whatever they buy off the
peg is going to be too big. That's why they come to somebody like
us."

Speculate and accumulate

Having to make an initial order of at least four shirts (because
of the economics of cutting an individual pattern) might be
off-putting, but it makes better financial sense to buy in bulk.
"If you wear shirts five days a week, then you should try to have
at least one amount on and one amount off, so ten in total," says
Lachter. "If you're wearing the same shirts every week, they'll
take a battering from washing and ironing, and wear out more
quickly."

Get seriously shirty

Plan your shirt collection with military precision - cover all
bases - and you'll lay the foundation for a solid wardrobe. "Some
businessmen order six pink, six white, six blue," says Lachter.
"You should either have one or two white or cream shirts. You
should have one or two plain blue, or blue end-on-end
[GQ's choice; like a very fine check]. Then maybe a couple
of stripes or checks; pink, grey, lilac."

Mix your collars and cuffs

"Some made-to-measure shops have six collar shapes that you
can't deviate from," says Lachter. "I can spread them, make them
deeper, wider, because I'm starting from scratch." But some are
more versatile than others. "Certain customers have shirts they
only wear without a tie. We alter the collar band so it will still
sit up." GQ opts for a contrast cutaway and the tapered
"flowerpot" (it looks like one when you open it out), a Lachter
trademark. Finally, he takes a photo as an aide-mémoire of
our deportment. "It doesn't make any difference to the fit. But
we've got a great fake-passport business going..."